Enchanting Lyrics
by Cerulean Leader
Summary: Four girls with dreams of becoming a famous band. With the school showcase coming, they use it as an oppurtunity to show their school what talents they've been hiding. Mainly and eventual NaruHina. Eventual NejiTen and already SasuSaku and ShikaIno on the side.
1. New Song

**Enchanting Lyrics: New Song**

_**by Cerulean Leader**_

_****__****__******ø,,ø¤º°°º¤ø,****Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ****,****ø¤º°°º¤ø****,,****ø**_

**************Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the outside product/songs mentioned inside the story. :)**

* * *

Hinata Hyūga was known for many things. Being the daughter of a powerful family and also being the heir to all the wealth would build you that kind of reputation. But Hinata hated being treated like that, and often hid her true identity from the people at her school. To them, she was just 'Hinata', the shy girl who was a sophomore at Konoha High School.

The indigo-haired girl sat at the back of her history class, writing notes down in her book while she listened to the teacher drone on about World War I. Not that she needed to write down any notes, she already knew these things. Hinata was also highly intelligent; there were not any other grades on her report card other than the usual A+.

"The soldiers would often need their lower legs amputated due to severe frostbite…" Iruka explained, as he wrote on the blackboard with chalk. He didn't seem to be interesting anyone, from what Hinata could see, and decided to not listen either, reaching for her music sheets in her bag.

"Naruto!" yelled Iruka, making Hinata snap up from her newest symphony. She glanced over at the blonde-haired teenager on the opposing side of the room, sitting beside his friends, Sasuke Uchiha and Kiba Inuzuka. "I would appreciate if you listened to me. This will be on your exam later in the year."

"Mr. Umino, I don't need to know this stuff." Naruto said, raising an eyebrow at his teacher. "I'm going to work with my dad after high school, so this is all pointless."

Iruka glared at the student. "It doesn't matter, it is relevant. Now pay attention!"

Hinata's lavender eyes lingered on Naruto for a bit longer, before realizing she was staring at him. A pink tinge dusted itself over her cheeks before looking down at the table, her long hair hiding her pale face. The girl had had the biggest crush on Naruto Uzumaki since fifth grade at the local elementary school. They had spoken when necessary, but usually their conversations didn't last long because something would come up or he would excuse himself. He thought she was a little odd, after all.

She sighed at the thoughts, shaking her head as she continued to add lyrics under the music lines, carefully making sure they fit in with the tune. She couldn't wait to show the others later.

When the bell finally rang, Iruka dismissed them from the class and the class immediately bolted for the door. Hinata just waited patiently, she didn't want to get trampled. She slowly shoved her books and sheets into her bag. Making her way towards the door, she was then crashed into as a person came running in. Her forehead was hit by a toned chest and she landed on her bottom, her books falling out of her bag.

"I'm really sorry!" exclaimed a deep voice. Hinata looked up to glare at them, but her eyes widened when she found out who it was.

"N-Naruto!"

He smiled sheepishly, placing a hand behind his head. "Hi, sorry about that! I was in a hurry and I forgot my bag."

Hinata nodded, and quickly went to retrieve her things that fell from her bag.

"Here, let me help you." Naruto said, crouching and beginning to gather things into a messy pile. Hinata gasped, diving for the papers, hoping that he wouldn't see. "Do you write songs?"

"Um… Y-yes." She stuttered as her blush over her cheeks again. He was looking over her work, while Hinata grimaced, gently taking it out of his hands. He glanced up at her, his blue eyes looking into her lavender ones.

"You're Hinata, right?" he asked, not breaking the eye contact. She nodded her head in response. "You have nice eyes." Naruto commented, standing up and offering her a hand. "Sorry about that, Hinata!"

With that, the blonde grabbed his bag and ran out of the room, waving to the heiress, leaving a dazed Hinata.

* * *

"Sakura, do you think Hinata is finished with the new song yet?" Ino Yamanaka asked, her long, blonde hair swaying in the wind while her and the pink-haired girl waited for Hinata. "I hope she has, because I'm so over playing the other songs. We need to move on from our normal genre."

Sakura sighed, re-tying her hot pink scarf in her hair that she was using as a headband to hold her pink locks back. "I'm sure she has; we can always rely on Hinata. It was her idea to start this band in the first place, anyway, so I doubt she would just give up on it."

"Ino, Sakura, I'm over here!" Hinata called, running over. Her face was still flushed from History, seeing as it was the last period of the day. Ino raised an eyebrow at her dark-haired friend.

"What's up with you? Your face is all red."

"O-oh, is it? I-I was just talking with N-Naruto..." Hinata responded sheepishly, her face falling into her hands in embarassment when Ino and Sakura started teasing the poor girl. She was comfortable talking around her family members and her best friends without stuttering, but as soon as Naruto came up into a conversation, she would get all shy.

"Aw, Hinata, just go ask the idiot out!" Ino exclaimed. "He's not dating anyone else at the moment, and I'm sure he would love to go out with you."

"I'm not as confident as you or Sakura, Ino." Hinata sighed. "I mean, you're going out with Shikamaru, and you two have liked each other for ages. Sakura and Sasuke are practically dating as well, the only thing they really need to do make it official is to kiss and then tell everyone."

"Hinata, have more confidence in yourself. He knows who you are, and you have talked to him before."

"I know, I know... C'mon, let's just go to my house so I can show you guys the song. Tenten should already be there because she was supposed to be going home with Neji today."

"Okay then, let's go!" Ino yelled excitedly, already taking off for the Hyūga mansion while Sakura and Hinata yelled for their friend to wait.

* * *

"It's about time you guys got here! Neji isn't exactly a person who is willing to entertain." Tenten whined, as the other three girls walked down a staircase into a dark room where various instruments and a recording studio was set up. Hiashi Hyūga, Hinata's father, had gotten this room built for his daughter and her friends when he had learned of their band.

"Sorry, Hinata was stopped by a certain _someone_." Sakura teased.

"Naruto talked to you again?" the brunette asked excitedly, sitting down at the drum-set and picking up the sticks. "That's great, Hinata!"

"Can we just get on with the song? Let's see it!" Ino said, digging through Hinata's bag. "Is it the one called 'Shut Up And Kiss Me'?"

"Yes, and you'll be singing it, Ino. I haven't written a song in a while where you've been the lead singer."

Sakura grinned at her friends. "Plus, we already know the tune of it because you showed this to us last week. Now Ino-pig has to do is get right is the lyrics right." she laughed, as Ino seethed, ready to hit the pinkette on the head.

"Shut up, Forehead!"

"Anyway, guys, let's give it a go." Tenten interrupted before an argument between Ino and Sakura could begin. She was getting impatient; she just wanted to start playing her drums. She watched as Sakura went to the lead guitar, Ino the the bass, and then Hinata to the keyboard. "I can't stay for much longer, so hurry up, guys, before my mom calls me to come home!"

Ino began playing the notes on her guitar, strumming the tune as Tenten began playing lightly on the drums as Ino began to sing, pausing her guitar playing as Sakura joined in on the bass.

**"Shut Up And Kiss Me - Orianthi (Re-Written)"**

_Ino:_ "_You're stuck-up, I'm so laid-back  
If you compare us, we're nothing alike so"  
_

_Ino and Tenten: "You think that I am really crazy  
I will forever be the same"_

Tenten began playing harder on the drums, her head bobbing with the beat of the song. Hinata smiled as she hummed the lyrics, delicately pressing the keys on the keyboard so they weren't to loud. As Ino began singing again, she began strumming the guitar strings as well.

_Ino: "I tease you, you insult back  
__Two of us so different, life's like that"  
_  
_Ino and Sakura: "Life is compared to a thriller ride_  
_But I'm the thing that will never leave your head"_

As the chorus came about, the four girls began to play louder. Ino also began to sing louder, with the other girls joining in.

___All: "This enemy/friend (**friend **(Sakura)) bond we have_  
_You say that you (**you** (Hinata)) are sick (**sick** (Hinata)) of arguin'  
But I say you're full of it_  
_So shut up and kiss me"_

_All: "Punch (**punch **(Tenten)), yell (**yell **(Tenten)) and get over it  
__But it's just so (**so **(Tenten)) weird(**so **(Tenten)) that you think of this  
__Cuz it's too late to fix it now  
__So shut up and kiss me"_

The girls continued to play their music, pausing for a few moments so they could get on with the next part of the song.

_Tenten and Sakura: "So shut up! _  
_So shut up!"_

_Ino: "We argue, then we laugh  
__I'll tell you how much I'm in love"_

_Ino and Sakura: "You get mad when I tease back_  
_It'll forever be the same"_

_Ino: "Confess it, you love me  
__Admit that you don't want me to leave you be"  
_  
_Ino, Tenten and Hinata: "Like a game, when someone wins  
__You'll always come back for more!"_

The music once again rose while the girls all took a deep breath to join in the chorus.

_All: "This enemy/friend (**friend **(Sakura)) bond we have_  
_You say that you (**you** (Hinata)) are sick (**sick** (Hinata)) of arguin'  
But I say you're so full of it_  
_So shut up and kiss me"_

___All: "Punch (**punch **(Tenten)), yell (**yell **(Tenten)) and get over it  
__But it's just so (**so **(Tenten)) weird(**so **(Tenten)) that you think of this  
__Cuz it's too late to fix it now  
__So shut up and kiss me"_

The beat slowed, the girls playing softer with the exception of Tenten who played the beat of the drums louder, seeming to really enjoy herself. She actually really liked this song; not only was it catchy, but it was the kind of music she liked to listen too.

_Ino and Hinata: "You miss my lips, my kiss, my laugh_  
_The riffs on my guitar_  
_The way we fight, we make up_ _fast"_

_Ino: _"_Oooooh yeah..."_

After Ino's pausing of the lyrics, Sakura began playing her guitar solo, overpowering the sound of the drums with Tenten was still pounding away at to show some rhythm, the bass guitar that Ino was holding and the keyboard which Hinata had stopped playing momentarily. Sakura's fingers pressed against the strings as she continued to play, her head moving in time with the music.

_Tenten: "So shut up!"_

_Tenten, Hinata and Ino: "Love hate, love hate, love hate!"_

As the others continued to sing in the background, like an echo, Sakura began to play the guitar from soft to loud so that the others could join in once more, before Tenten began banging away at the drums quickly.

_All: "This enemy/friend (**friend **(Sakura)) bond we have_  
_You say that you (**you** (Hinata)) are sick (**sick** (Hinata)) of arguin'  
But I say you're so full of it_  
_So shut up and kiss me"_

___All: "Punch (**punch **(Tenten)), yell (**yell **(Tenten)) and get over it  
__But it's just so (**so **(Tenten)) weird(**so **(Tenten)) that you think of this  
__Cuz it's too late to fix it now  
__So shut up and kiss me"_

_Sakura, Hinata and Tenten: "So shut up!"_

The music began to die down, so that it was playing more softly than in the last chorus.

_Ino: "You shut up and kiss me..."_

Soon, the girls stopped playing all together, only the lead guitar's echo as it faded out to end the song. The girls panted from exhaustion, trying to catch their breaths that had been wasted when enthusiastically playing to the song.

"That was amazing, you guys!" Sakura said excitedly after she had regained her breath. Releasing herself from the strap that had the guitar hooked onto her shoulder, she placed the red, electric guitar on one of the stands, with Ino following suit. Tenten placed the drumsticks on a small table beside the drum set, while Hinata pressed the button to turn off the keyboard. "I can't wait until the school showcase, we are so going to rock it!"

"But I thought we agreed not to do it." Hinata replied anxiously, her eyes looking hopeful at her friends as she prayed that they would reconsider signing their band up to perform at the showcase.

"No way, Hinata!" Ino smiled, putting her designer jacket back on. "We're going to do it."

"C'mon, don't get nervous now!" Tenten laughed. "We'll see you tomorrow, Hinata!"

* * *

**A/N: Hey there, readers! So my friend has recently got me hooked onto Naruto, and I've been dying to write a fic. It's my first Naruto fic, so please don't judge to harshly. :) I've seen a few fics out there like this one, but I'll be attempting to make it my own. **

**Okay, first things first, I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE THINGS MENTIONED IN THE STORY. **

**Main pairings that will be included (if you don't like them, then I suggest you don't read this story):**

**-NaruHina  
-SasuSaku  
-ShikaIno  
-NejiTen**

**So due to a reviewer talking about how I shouldn't put the lyrics in the story, I decided to mostly re-write the song. Mind you, it's not the best out there seeing I did it in about 10 minutes, but I tried. Some of the lines in the song are the same because I couldn't think of anything else to add. Thanks, MrGoodyTwoShoes! :)**

**Hinata will be pretty OOC in this, so instead of stuttering all the time, she will only stutter when she's around people she's not fully comfortable around. :3**

**So when I do include the songs, each of the girls have a particular singer, but outside songs will also be included**

**Ino - Orianthi  
Hinata - Demi Lovato (plus extras - songs that have piano in them as the main instrument and have a soft voice)  
Sakura - undecided  
Tenten - undecided**

**Word Count: 1,793 (not including lyrics, A/N's, etc.)**

**Let me know what you think!**

**Once again, I DO NOT OWN THE SONG**

**~CL**


	2. Signing The Girls Up

**Enchanting Lyrics: Singing Up The Girls**

_**by Cerulean Leader**_

_****__****__******ø,,ø¤º°°º¤ø,****Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ****,****ø¤º°°º¤ø****,,****ø**_

**************Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the outside product/songs mentioned/used inside the story. :)**

* * *

After the girls left her home, Hinata grabbed her bag and went up to her bedroom in the large house, waving to her younger sister, Hanabi on the way. She placed her bag down on the ground beside her desk, and began to get started on her homework.

Roughly an hour passed, and Hinata was still working on the homework that she still had to do. Being the daughter of a powerful man within the city of Konoha, Hinata had had tutors as a child as well as attending one of the best schools in the country before moving to Konoha, so she was always recieving top grades in all her classes, and could finish classwork before the bell rang.

Her laptop that was in front of the desk beeped, signalling that someone had messaged her on the chatroom. She clicked the flashing toolbar, and the chat-screen rose up to reveal the message.

_**ThatDevilishFox: Do you ever wander what it's like to have someone know what you're really like a person instead of them thinking you're really cool?**_

_**NightSky-Dreamer: Uh, I guess so? Who is this?**_

_**ThatDevilishFox: So you know what it's like as well. Glad to know. **_

_**NightSky-Dreamer: Except, I'm not exactly in the cool crowd at school. Who is this? I never caught your name.**_

_**ThatDevilishFox: I won't ask your name if you won't ask mine. Fair trade?**_

_**NightSky-Dreamer: I guess...**_

_**ThatDevelishFox: It's nice to know that there's someone out there who feels similar to the way I do.**_

_**NightSky-Dreamer: Do you message strangers often?**_

_**ThatDevellishFox: Technically you're not a stranger since this chatroom was designed for students who go to Konoha High School. You go to KHS, right? Besides, if I'm talking to a girl, they always turn out to be cute if I meet them in person. ;)**_

Hinata blushed when she devoloped what the stranger had said. She really shouldn't have been talking to him, but he was from her school, right?

**_NightSky-Dreamer: Look, I have to go. I have homework to finish off. It was nice talking to you, though. :3_**

The girl quickly finished typing, and logged off, heaving a sigh. What would her father say if he found out she had just talked to a person on the internet?

* * *

Meanwhile, in another house close by, a student named Naruto Uzumaki had just been left alone on the KHS chatroom. Maybe he shouldn't have tried to flirt with her.

He sighed, and leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head, thinking about what maybe the girl was actually like. She had a photograph of herself as a profile picture, but from what he could tell, it was a little out of date, plus, her face was hidden under long tendrils of dark hair.

Standing up, he also logged out of the chatroom and went downstairs, sniffing the air. A delicious aroma filled the room, and Naruto sighed dreamily. "Ramen..." he sighed with his mouth watering. Opening the kitchen door, he spotted his mother, Kushina, standing at the stove, missing a pot of boiling water and noodles. "Is it almost ready, mom?" he asked, sitting eagerly on one of the stools at the kitchen counter.

"Not yet, honey, now go wash up. Your father will be home soon, and no ramen until he gets home." Kushina replied, turning to face her son and smiling. He pouted in response. "Come now, Naruto, don't look so downcast. How was school? You came home and went straight to your room."

"T'was pretty good." Naruto replied, drumming his nails on the counter impatiently. "They announced the showcase and the school dance today. Apparently they're going with 'Masquerade'!" he said dramatically, his hands moving above his head like a person would do if they were trying to show a title of something.

"Sounds exciting, ask a nice girl, now!" she smiled, winking at her son, obviously teasing him.

"Mom!" he whined.

"I'm only teasing you, sweetie."

"Oh, right..."

* * *

"Are you really going to join up, Ino? We're still practicing for the showcase, and now you want to join the dance committee?" Sakura asked, as she sat down on her bed. She was still drying her hair after she had had a shower and changed into her pajamas.

Ino's phone was leaning in between her shoulder and her ear, as she wrote down the completed orders on a piece of paper for her parents flower shop. As her pen scratched against the paper, she said, "Of course I'm going too! This'll be great, and I won't be alone because you'll be there to help me!" she answered excitedly. "Don't worry, you're not the only one I'm dragging in. Hinata and Tenten will be helping out as well."

"...You already volunteered us to help, didn't you?" Sakura sighed, her voice clearly showing annoyance. "You should have consulted with us first."

"Well, we don't want the place to look bad, and with us planning and decorating the place, it'll look amazing. I shouldn't have to apologize, you know you want to do it."

Sakura just laughed into the phone, shaking her head. Only Ino could make up an excuse that could actually be a trick to manipulate someone into doing something for her.

"Alright, whatever, I'll do it."

"Awesome!"

"What's the theme going to be anyway?"

"It's 'Masquerade'. As much as this is overused, I'm really excited to have one at our school. We can make it our own instead of how they used to do it back in the day. Of course, elegance is a _must_, but we don't need to go overboard with it." the blonde replied, putting her pen down when she finally finished writing. Leaning back in her chair, she ran a hand through her long locks that she had let down when she had gotten home from school.

"It'll be interesting to see how it goes." Sakura agreed. "Alright, I'm going to bed. Goodnight, Ino!"

"'Night, Sakura!"

After Sakura had hung up her mobile, she put it on charge before placing it down on her beside table. She slid into her warm blankets with her head falling on the green pillows before her thoughts began to drift to the mysterious boy she had fallen in love at the beginning of junior high.

"Sasuke..." she murmured, closing her eyes. She imagined herself dancing with a man in a suit, before the music stopped. A chime was heard to reveal it was midnight, and the two parteners took of their masks, and dream Sakura gasped when she realized it was Sasuke, before the two kissed.

The pink-haired girl sighed contentedly before smiling in her sleep.

* * *

"You WHAT?" Tenten's voice shrieked as it echoed through the halls. Sakura sighed as she and Hinata stood back and watched as Tenten yelled at Ino who didn't look fazed one bit. Hinata had her hands clasped in front of her as she tried to get their brunette friend to calm down.

"Please, Tenten, don't get too angry at Ino. I'm sure she thought it would be fun if we did it all together-"

"But doesn't it bother you that she just signed us up without even asking us first?" Tenten snapped, not even turning to face their shy friend. Sakura just sighed.

"Relax, Tenten, she did it to me as well. But for all we know, it could be fun." Sakura interrupted before Hinata could answer. "It's going to be a Masquerade Ball, so it's all going to be a big mystery anyway. Masks, and all that jazz."

Ino gave a really big smile. "Yeah, it's going to be fantastic. Besides, we're not the only ones on the committee, so I don't know what you are so worried about." she said. "Also," she began slyly. "I heard a certain Hyūga is going to joining up..."

"Oh, do mean Neji?" Hinata asked. "He didn't tell me he was joining up."

"He didn't tell me either." Tenten replied with a frown. They were supposed to be best friends; her, Neji and Lee. They'd met back in second grade when their teacher, Gai, had paired them up for a school project, and the three had remained close ever since. Even though they did have other friends, they didn't let anything get in the way of that.

"Maybe Lee is making him join up. I told him about Sakura was signing up, and we all know how much he likes her, so he's probably doing it to impress her." Ino laughed as Sakura's face reddened.

"Anyway," she said, trying to change the subject. "We should probably be heading to class. I have Home Ec. now, so I'm going to head off soon. We'll meet at lunch at the usual table?"

"Yeah, good idea. What have you guys got now?" Hinata asked, checking her schedule. "I've got music now."

Tenten smiled with an evil gleam in her eyes. "I have gym class now, so now I can give that stupid cousin of yours a piece of my mind. I'm sure Guy won't mind if I yell at him while he makes everyone runs laps. Lee will keep him occupied anyway since he's like a mini-Guy..."

"I still think it's creepy how you call Mr. Might by his first name." Ino shuddered with a disgusted tone in her voice. "Then again, he's a really weird teacher anyway, y'know, with that stupid rivalry with Mr. Hatake and all."

"Whatever, see you guys later!" Tenten laughed, hurrying off towards her locker to get her gym stuff. The rest of the girls followed suit, splitting in their opposing directions so that they could get to their classes.

* * *

Sasuke Uchiha stood outside the Home Economics room while he waited for Sakura. The two hadn't admitted it to anyone, even though their friends had suspected it for a long time, the two had been dating secretly for roughly two months. He was leaning casually against the plastered wall beside a white poster on the wall while Sakura was soon spotted down the hall.

"Hey, Sasuke, sorry to keep you waiting." she grinned up at him, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek before heading inside. He just nodded at the cheerful girl and followed her inside, his unemotional mask forming on his face, though his eyes were soft as they watched Sakura.

"Sakura?" he whispered to her as their teacher began talking about the different ways of mixing batters. "The poster outside from before..."

"Yeah, what about it?" she whispered back, writing down the notes as their teacher spoke. Her attention was now divided between the two distractions, but being friends with Naruto and Sasuke from a young age, the girl had had practice.

"It's about the school showcase that's being organized for the end of the year. With that band of yours, why don't you sign up?"

"It's not as easy as you think, Sasuke, Hinata's really shy when it comes to people she's not comfortable around, but can you imagine her on a stage? She would freak out instantly and faint." the pink haired girl answered, putting down her pen to face him.

"You guys are pretty good, so I think you should go for it."

"I'll talk to the others-"

"Miss Haruno!" yelled the teacher, making the girl jump out of her seat after being startled by the loud, stern voice. "Would you like to share what you're discussing with Mr. Uchiha with the whole class?"

Sasuke's face remained calm, hardening once again. The girls who were sitting behind Sakura and Sasuke were all drooling over the mysterious teenager, but were also glaring at Sakura.

"Uh, no, ma'am! I'm sorry!" Sakura apologized quickly, bowing her head.

"Please finish your discussion _after _class."

"Yes, ma'am."

* * *

**A/N: I know this story isn't that popular because it got deleted, but I'm trying to make it better. I have a plot running through my head, and I'm really excited to get to the big events that I have planned for the story; the dance and the showcase.**

**Okay, just to clear things up; Shikamaru and Ino are already together and so are Sasuke and Sakura but those two haven't told anyone. Hinata is very shy around Naruto, so he just thinks she's weird. Neji and Tenten aren't together either. :) By the way, he will be introduced in Chapter 3, maybe. **

**I apologize for the OOCness as well. **

**By the way, does anyone have any ideas for singers that I should use for Tenten and Sakura? **

**With the songs, I will re-write the lyrics so I won't get into trouble... **

**Word Count: 2,038**

**~CL**


	3. The Girl

**Enchanting Lyrics: The Girl**

_**by Cerulean Leader**_

_****__****__******ø,,ø¤º°°º¤ø,****Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ****,****ø¤º°°º¤ø****,,****ø**_

**************Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the outside product/songs mentioned inside the story. :)**

* * *

Hinata's mind was unfocused as she sat at a stool, staring down at a piece of paper while she held one of the school's acoustic guitars, rapidly tapping her fingernails against the wooden surface. Who was the guy she was talking to last night on the school chatroom?

"Hinata, are you alright?" asked her teacher, Ms. Yūhi asked, placing a hand on the indigo-haired girl's shoulder in order to gain her attention. "You've been really unfocused in class today. Is something on your mind?"

"No, I'm fine, thankyou." Hinata answered with a smile. "I'm just thinking…"

"Well, let me know if you would like to talk." Her teacher said with a smile.

Soon enough, the school bell rang and packed up her things, heading towards the school cafeteria. The school itself was very big, and had over 2,000 students so the school had multiple venues of things like the school gym and the cafeteria. Seeing as the girl was a sophomore, she headed up to the North Cafeteria where her year level shared the room with the freshman.

She spotted Kiba and Shino, the boys she had become best friends with almost instantly when she had moved to Konoha, who were sitting near the lunch line, and Kiba was loudly talking with Shino while the latter just calmly responded. Hinata walked towards their table quickly, sitting down on the other side.

"Hello Shino, Kiba," she said, smiling in greeting. Kiba grinned back in response to the girl with a large, toothy smile while Shino nodded, letting her know that he acknowledged her. "How are you two?"

"Hey, Hinata! Yeah, we're good, and you?"

"I'm fine thanks. What's on the lunch menu today?" she asked, leaning over to take a look at the boys trays. Kiba had a piece of Hawaiin pizza, while Shino seemed to have settled for some soup.

"They've decided to do leftovers today." Shino answered in his calm voice, poking at his soup with a spoon. "It appears that your friends are walking toward us."

Hinata turned her head and smiled at the girls who were heading towards the trio. "I'll see you two later, okay? Bye guys!" Hinata said, standing and walking to the table where she usually sat with Tenten, Ino and Sakura.

"Hina!" Sakura greeted with a squeal as she used the nickname that they used on their dark-haired friend when they either wanted something or were using it teasingly, making Ino and Tenten look at her with a raised eyebrow. "We've got something to tell you. I know you might be against the idea at first, but it'll be a great oppurtunity to let people know who we are. We're a great band-"

"Just get to the point, Forehead!"

"Shut up, Ino-pig!" Sakura retorted, rolling her mint-green eyes. "Anyway, Sasuke was telling me about a poster for the showcase coming up later in the year... And we were hoping that we could sign up."

"I agree with them, Hinata." Tenten said with a gentle smile, nodding in encouragement. "It'll give us an oppurtunity to let everyone know how great your songs are."

Hinata's face had turned an even paler colour than it was originally as her brain registered Sakura and Tenten's words. She could hardly talk face-to-face to people who were in class, let alone her own family, but now her best friends wanted all four of them to go onto a stage, and perform in front of the _whole _school? She began to walk stiffly towards the lunch line, grabbing her tray while her normally soft and gentle eyes were wide with fear. The other girls followed and stood beside her, waiting for her response.

"Hinata?" Ino asked gently, leaning to look at Hinata's face. "Nicely done, guys, now she's freaking out."

"Y-you want to perform i-in front of the school for sh-showcase?"

"It's not for a couple of months so we can get ourselves ready for it." Sakura answered, an encouraging smile on her face.

"I think it'll be great, rocking it out and showing everyone what we can do!" their brunette friend piped up. She was always enthusiastic about things like this, something which they all admired her for.

"You just want to show off to Neji." Sakura said, making Ino almost choke on her own oxygen before breaking out in laughter. Tenten turned an intense shade of red, one that could rival Hinata's blush whenever she was around Naruto.

"Shut up, Sakura, you're the one who wants to show off to Sasuke Uchiha. You've been in love with that idiot since the dawn of time." Tenten retorted, placing a hand behind her head and poking one of the buns on the back of her head.

"P-please, everyone, can we please stop arguing?" Hinata asked, moving down the line and looking at the food that the cafeteria had to offer. She opted for some cinnamon rolls for lunch, and a salad on the side.

Sakura grabbed a few anko dumplings, an apple and a soda, while Ino grabbed a piece of chocolate pudding.

Tenten practically dived for the noodles, a pair of chopsticks set upon her tray as well. Once the four had their meals, they walked away from the line to find a table.

Once they sat down, the four immediately began talking, with Hinata trying to steer the conversation away from anything to do with the showcase, but she, however, had no such luck.

"...Then we can all go shopping for matching outfits! I can see it now." Ino grinned, looking down a piece of pudding on her spoon. "We can all have fingerless gloves of different designs, and then we can have a mainly black outfit with poofy skirts and layers-"

"_No _skirts!" Tenten interrupted with a scowl, putting some noodles into her mouth and chewing them with her eyes closed in satisfaction. "I think we should just wear ordinary clothes. It's best to make Hinata feel as comfortable as she can, right?"

Sakura nodded in agreement, glancing over at her quiet friend. Hinata was even more silent than usual, only poking at her cinnamon rolls which was odd, seeing as cinnamon rolls were one of her favourite foods. "Is anything wrong, Hinata?" the pinkette asked, nudging her friend. "You haven't said a word at all to discuss this with us..."

"I'm fine, Sakura, really, I'm just thinking..."

"If you say so, Hinata..." Ino said wearily.

The four of them quickly finished their food, placed their cutlery and trays on to the dirty pile of dishes that needed to be cleaned before beginning to walk away from the cafeteria.

"Hinata, please think about doing showcase. It'll mean a lot to us if you agree to it." said Sakura, placing her hand on the shy girl's shoulder. Hinata nodded.

"I'll consider it." she replied, smiling at her friends. "I'll meet you guys at the front after school, okay?"

* * *

Naruto groaned as he began to run a few laps around the soccer field with Kiba Inuzuka, Rock Lee and Sasuke Uchiha beside him. They were currently at practise after school, and their coach, Mr. Might, had immediately forced them to warm up with a few laps as soon as they finished getting changed.

"I hate it when he makes us do this... He doesn't even give us a bit of time to stretch first!" Kiba complained, as he jogged alongside the others.

"Come now, guys, Coach Guy is encouraging us to become great sportsman!" Lee said encouragingly. "We should strive to be more like him!" He grinned, giving his friends the thumbs-up signal with a wink. Sasuke rolled his eyes, muttering something about 'Lee is an idiot' before speeding up. Coach Guy watched from the centre of the field, yelling encouraging words to his team.

"Keep up the positive attitude, Lee! You'll be a soccer star in no time!" he said with a charming smile, his white teeth glinting in the sunlight. Naruto and Kiba shuddered. The thought of how similar Lee and Guy Might were was extrememly creepy and abnormal, and they weren't related at all.

Practice continued for the next hour and a half, Coach Guy put them through an intense training session, eventually getting covered in dirt and scratches from the drills he made them participate in. By the end of it, all of the guys on the team were ready to collapse in their beds, though some made it more obvious than others...

"I'm so tired!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes at his best friends antics, and walked towards his sleek, silver sportscar. "Hurry up, Naruto, or you can walk home."

"Oh, whatever, Sasuke! C'mon!" he said, marching towards the side he was going to sit.

* * *

The drive home was mainly quiet, seeing as Sasuke wasn't really much of a big talker, unlike Naruto who was bored out of his mind. The radio was not on either, making his blonde friend annoyed out of his mind. He glared out the window with his blue eyes, before his thoughts drifted to the other day when he had the conversation with that girl on the school chatroom. Who could she be?

"Hey, Sasuke?"

"Hm?"

"Do you know at our school with dark hair?" he asked, glancing at his best friend who was keeping his eyes focused on the road. "Like, really long, along with pale skin?"

"No." he replied bluntly, leaving Naruto even more annoyed than he was originally. "Why do you ask, dobe?"

"No reason, teme, I just... Well actually, I was talking to a girl on the school chatroom. She seemed pretty cute, and I just want to know what she's like in real life..."

His mind suddenly flashed towards a few days ago when he crashed into someone after History class... Why was that memory suddenly popping into his head? He couldn't even remember who the person he had bumped into was.

"Really, Naruto? You sound like some sort of creeper when you talk like that." Sasuke answered with a smirk, looking over at his friend before moving his gaze back onto the road. "Don't try to deny it."

"Whatever..." Naruto huffed, turning away, leaving Sasuke and Naruto to ignore each other the rest of the way home.

* * *

**A/N: Hey, readers! Thanks for reading this story. Sorry for the little wait for the update, I was a litte unsure of how to write this chapter. I have the plot worked out, I just need to work out how to actually write it and then pace myself. **

**My other chapter stories never seem to stay alive, so I'm going to try really hard on this one! :D**

**Word Count: 1,756**

**~CL**


	4. Partners

**Enchanting Lyrics: The Girl**

_**by Cerulean Leader**_

_****__****__******ø,,ø¤º°°º¤ø,****Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ****,****ø¤º°°º¤ø****,,****ø**_

**************Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the outside product/songs mentioned inside the story. :)**

* * *

"Shikamaru, I need your help!" she whined from the other end of the phone. He pulled the phone away from his ear so that he didn't go deaf at all. He sighed in response, but he knew she would go nuts if he didn't comply.

"What's wrong, Ino?" he asked. "C'mon, I need to finish off an assignment."

"I have a lot of things I need to figure out. One of them is this dance; it's stressing me out! Plus Hinata is totally nervous about signing up for the school showcase later on this year, and I don't know what to do…" She rambled, without taking a breath to her speeding monologue. Ino's voice soon drifted off. "Please, Shika?"

"Alright, I'll be right over." He answered with a groan, hanging up. He couldn't believe; her and her damned pleading voice_. '_

"_Man, Shikamaru, you are so whipped!" _said Chōji's voice from inside his head. His best friend was always right when it came to things like that, but he just couldn't help it. He, Ino and Chōji had been friends since they were younger, and he couldn't help but begin to love the blonde girl, though she had been the one to ask him out because he had been too lazy to make the first move.

* * *

"Hanabi, do you think it's a good idea if my friends and sign up for the showcase?" Hinata asked her little sister as she sat on the younger girl's bed. Hanabi was stretching on her bedroom floor so she'd be ready for her contemporary class later that day. Their father had always made sure his daughters were enrolled in activities that were 'suitable' for ladies, hence why the girls knew how to speak French, Spanish, English and German fluently, how they both knew to play the piano, and that they were trained in lady etiquette. The only exception to these activities was that Hinata and Hinata were taught Baguazhang(1), a type of Chinese martial art. They were trained in this to teach them self-defense.

Hanabi looked up, blinking her pearl-white eyes in surprise. "Well, I think you should. Even though you have lack a little bit in the self-confidence department, you're talent for music is fantastic. I don't know why you're so shy for." she replied, spreading her legs to she could stretch her hamstrings. "I say give it a shot."

Hinata contemplated her sister's words as she rested her chin in her hand, which was on top of her knee. She was sitting cross-legged on top of Hanabi's lime green bed cover, and wasn't planning to move any time soon. She enjoyed these talks with her sister, because they could talk about anything with each other. If Hinata had a problem, she would go talk to Hanabi, and vice versa.

"Alright, little sis', I will."

* * *

_'Who is this girl?' _Naruto continued to ask himself, waiting for her to log back online to the the school chatroom. She had been on his mind for the past few days, and it was bugging him like crazy not knowing who she was. He had thought he knew every girl at their school because they all basically swooned when they saw him and his friends, but apparently he didn't know all of them. Naruto looked away from his computer when he heard a knock at his door, and grinned his trademark, goofy smile when he saw his father leaning against the doorway after the door opened.

"So, Naruto, your mother tells me that a dance is coming up at your school..." Minato said, with a sly smile on his face and his blue eyes shining mischievously. "Have you asked a girl yet?"

Naruto's eyes widened. "You're beginning to sound like my godfather, dad. It's bad enough that I have to deal with Pervy-Sage, but now he's rubbing off on you too? Have you been reading his books again? Don't give in! He may be wise, but he's a crazy old man!" he yelled dramatically, running over to his father and shaking Minato by the shoulders. Minato managed to pry his son's hands away from him, before laughing.

"No, Naruto, I was just asking."

"Well, no, I haven't yet." Naruto sighed, moving back towards the computer and checking the 'online' section again. He looked over his shouder to face his dad, but then noticed that the older, blonde man was in fact standing right behind him.

"Waiting for someone to come on?" he asked teasingly, while Naruto turned slightly pink.

"No! Now get out!" Naruto yelled, pushing his dad out of his bedroom and slamming the door.

* * *

The next day, Tenten, Ino, Sakura and Hinata stood outside of the drama room with Ino holding a pen, writing their names on the sign-up sheet for the showcase. Hinata was poking her fingertips together while Sakura watched Ino. Tenten was leaning against the wall in boredom while she waited.

"I'm so glad you agreed to do this with us, Hinata!" Sakura smiled, readjusting her headband on her pink hair gently so she did not mess up her hair. She was trying to impress Sasuke anyway.

Ino put the pen she was using back in her bag as she straightened up. "Yeah," she said, joining into the conversation. "I called Shikamaru in a panic last night to help us convince you to sign up." Hinata stared at her long-haired friend in surprise. "Sorry, Hina, but I was a little nervous last night about what your final decision would be?"

"You told Shikamaru?" Tenten asked, interrupting the conversation.

"Don't worry, he'll keep it a secret. He's not going to tell anybody. He's too lazy to say anything, anyway. He says it's too troublesome." Ino replied, waving her off and dismissing Tenten's question. "Anyway, we should probably head to homeroom. I don't think Mr. Hatake will appreciate it if we'e late." The girls nodded in agreement, and began to walk down the hallway towards their classroom.

* * *

"Okay, class, now I'll be assigning you into pairs to work on a project. As you know, we're still studying World War I, so now you're going to be doing the project to finish off this unit. So partners will be as follows; Gaara and Shino, Sasuke and Kiba, Naruto and Hinata..."

Naruto turned around his seat to find the girl he had been partnered with, to find a girl with long, indigo hair tied up in a low ponytail staring at him through her fringe. He grinned at her, remembering her as the girl that he had accidentally crashed into a few days before when he had come rushing back into the classroom to grab his History workbook. She blushed almost completely red, and put her head down so that she was looking at her enclosed hands to avoid his gaze. He looked at her in confusion, but shrugged it off, facing the front again.

After Iruka had finished pairing people off, he instructed all the students to seperate into their partnering groups. Naruto grabbed his book and walke towards Hinata's desk, grabbed a chair and sat on the opposing side.

"Hey there," he greeted while she sunk low in her seat. "I'm Naruto, your partner."

"H-hello..." she replied shyly, unsure of how to respond. She straighened up, and immediately began turning through her notes to find a blank page. He watched her movements, a little surprised at her behaviour, and curious about how he was supposed to handle it. "M-maybe we should... get started." He nodded, and followed her motions, opening his own book and grabbing a pencil out of his pencilcase.

"So, uh, do you have any ideas for this project?" he asked, pressing a hand to the back of his neck. She looked up at him, finally making eye contact, and his eyes windened slightly in surprise. So she was related to Neji? He couldn't help but be intrigued by her eyes. They were large, gentle and were of a soft, lavender colour, different to Neji's whose were slightly cold, and more of an of white to the unique set of eyes that only the Hyūga family. They held the gaze for a few seconds before she looked back down at her book.

"Umm, y-yes... What if we do the l-living conditions of the t-trenches?" she said, poking her fingertips together for the second time that day. Why did she always have to be so nervous around him? _'Stupid crush...' _Hinata thought.

* * *

"Neji, I have officially decided that I _hate _Chemistry." Tenten complained, pushing away the piece of paper in front of her away from her view. She folded her arms and looked at her old friend. "It's ridiculously hard."

The brunette teenager beside her looked at her. "You just need to learn how to understand this exercise. It's not that har when you finally get it-"

"It is not as hard as it looks, Tenten!" Lee yelled, cutting off Neji. He held up the victory sign, and was also winking at the same time, trying to encourage his twin-bun haired friend, but he just recieved a glare instead of a 'thanks' in grattitude. He winced in return at her angry expression that was etched on her face.

"Just help with this before I smack the daylights out of you, Lee!"

Neji sighed and shook his head. Lee laughed nervously and quickly went back to do his work. The Hyūga of the class leaned over to help his friend, making her blush slightly, but she shook it off. Neji softly began to explain the formulas of the equations that they were supposed to finish off during the rest of the period before the bell rang, but Tenten just didn't understand it at all. Science had never really been her thing. She had always been the type of person to be into sports and always outside. She loved adventuring, and hated it when she was stuck inside. Like now for instance.

"Neji, I don't get it! It doesn't make any sense. It's jibberish! It's like trying to understand the really weird bond between Mr Might and the loser over here..."

"Excuse me, Tenten, but the bond that Mr Might and I share is understandable!"

"Whatever, Lee... Neji!"

"Alright!"

* * *

**A/N: Hello, readers! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know the story seems kinda boring at the moment, but the fun stuff will begin soon. :D Hinata's finally agreed to do the showcase, so...**

**Also, I didn't spell 'colour' wrong. In my country, that's how we spell it. **

**Word Count: 1,769**

**(1) I chose to say that the Hyūga sisters (plus Neji as well) had been trained in this martial art style because Baguazhang is the type of martial art style that the ****Hyūga clan's fighting style, the Gentle Fist, is based on. :)**

**Review, please, and wait for the next update, which will hopefully be soon. I need to update some of my other stories as well.**

**~CL**


	5. Memoirs Of Romance

**Enchanting Lyrics: Memoirs Of Romance**

_**by Cerulean Leader**_

_****__****__******ø,,ø¤º°°º¤ø,****Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ****,****ø¤º°°º¤ø****,,****ø**_

**************Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the outside product/songs mentioned/used inside the story. :)**

* * *

"Sakura…" Hinata said slowly, gaining her friend's attention. The two now sat in their Latin class, and Hinata was still silently thanking Iruka in her head for putting her and Naruto together for the school project that they had been assigned. But she was also occasionally pinching herself to check if it wasn't a dream.

"What is it, Hinata?" the pinkette replied, glancing back down at her paper after sending Hinata a grin.

"I was… partnered up with… N-Naruto for our History project." The indigo-haired girl stuttered, poking her fingers together while glancing up at their teacher to make sure that she wouldn't catch them talking. Shizune was a good teacher, if a little strict. She only taught two days a week, and the other three days she worked as the principal's, Tsunade, assistant.

Hinata heard a _clank, _letting her know that Sakura had dropped her pencil, and was now staring at Hinata with wide eyes as an excited grin slowly began to form on her lips. "This is perfect! Now you can get to know each other better!" she whispered hurriedly. Hinata's blush deepened into a darker shade of red. She shook her head furiously, her eyes clenched shut as she denied Sakura's statement.

"But why?" asked the girl with an annoyed gaze. "Hina, you're in love with the idiot and you talk about him _all _the time so I don't see why you won't go through with it. It's a great opportunity, and you're just going to let it slide? If so, then you are crazy."

Hinata watched in surprise as one of her best friends turned away from their conversation and turned back to do her walk. She glanced up at the board as well before back at her paper, rubbing her arm self-conciously. _'Maybe Sakura is right...' _she thought with a disappointed sigh. _'Maybe I need to use the courage I do have and use it to get to know Naruto better. I have a chance too offered up on a silver platter, and I was going to ask Mr. Umino for a new partner? I must be crazy.'_

* * *

Ino drummed her fingernails against the table top as she sat in her art class, staring at the paper while thoughts on everything currently going on her life ran through her head. They momentarily stopped on her boyfriend, Shikamaru, and a dreamy smile slowly formed on her face. Grabbing a pencil from the side, she absent-mindedly to draw. She let out a dazed sigh as she let her hand just flow, looking down at the paper occasionally to make sure it didn't look absolutely ridiculous. When had she fallen this hard for the lazy teenager and how had she not realized it?

Looking down at the rough sketch again, she quickly added a small love heart with 'S + I' drawn delicately inside it. Dropping the wood untensil, she let her blue eyes glide over the page, taking in every detail. She had roughly sketched a trunk of a tree with the leaves dangling down, with the heart engraved near the bottom of the tree near the blades of grass. _'I wonder what Shikamaru would think if he saw this.' _she giggled to herself. _'Speaking of seeing things, the girls and I should probably get to working on our costumes and song choices for the showcase and the dance-'_

Her eyes then widened suddenly, cursing under her breath as her head fell into her hands. "The dance... I completely forgot about that!" she whispered to herself wildly, mentally slapping herself for forgetting such an important event in her life right now. "There's a meeting this afternoon for it but I agreed to watch the shop for mum!" She bit her lip. debating on what decisions to make. She eventually came to the conclusion that she would text the girls and they would all meet up in the gym later on that day to help the rest of the dance committee, but then she would have to leave her early for her work shift at her families florist shop.

She pictured Shikamaru chuckling and scolding her for not being more organised, but shrugged it off. Oh well, even she was allowed to be a bit of a scatter-brain once in a while.

* * *

"Akamaru and I have always been great friends, seeing as I got him when I was a kid..." Kiba said as he stood in front of his English class for an oral presentation that they all had to do that day. It wasn't a particular subject, just something that made you smile - it was a practice exercise that their teacher had given them in order to prepare them for an oral presentation that was going to be worth a quarter of their grade. Kiba, however, wasn't having that much luck as he kept his eyes on his cue cards, babbling on about his dog so he was failing miserably.

Naruto was inwardly doubling over in laughter, but he was in fact snickering into his hand which was currently covering his mouth. He shook his head, and let it collapse in his folded arms which were now on the desk. Kiba frowned at his friend when he finally finished, and punched him in the upper arm when he was about to sit down. "Shut up, Naruto!" he whispered in annoyance.

"Hey, Kiba, have you asked anyone to the dance yet?" Naruto asked.

"It's a masquerade dance - as in you wear masks - you idiot." the brunette answered. Naruto rolled his eyes, and then began to think, completely ignoring the rest of the students who were doing their oral presentations. Who was that girl? She had been on his mind for days since their conversation, then they drifted on to the girl who he was partners with for History. What was with her? She was unusually shy, and he wasn't sure how to get her to talk to him. They had been assigned together for this project, and he couldn't even talk to her.

* * *

After school, Ino gathered the girls in the school gym where a few other people were waiting. Tsunade was also waiting there for them already, and was tapping her foot impatiently.

"Sorry we're late right, Ms. Senju." Sakura said with a nervous smile. Hinata rubbed her arm anxiously beside her, while Tenten and Ino stood back while nodding. "We lost track of time a little bit, but we're here now." Tsunade sighed, and shook her head. Turning her head, the blonde adult began talking to the other stuents of the committee.

"Okay, everyone, as you know, the theme of this year's high school dance is 'Masquerade'. You've all volunteered to decorate the school gym to your choice, so I leave this event in their hands. I know you'll make it look beautiful." she said. There was a twinkle in her honey brown eyes that the students could make out, though her face still held a serious expression, and the students could tell that she was satisfied with the people on the committee this year. Dropping the keys into Sakura's hands, she walked out of the gym "Return the keys to the office when you're done!" she yelled before her voice was out of hearing range.

"Does anyone have any ideas so far?" Ino spoke up, pulling out a clipboard and pencil from her bag. "We have a pretty high budget, so let your ideas spill so we can go over them."

Nama, one of the other students, grinned when an idea popped into her head. "We've got to have a DJ, and I know the perfect person! My older brother can help us there, so he can bring in all his equipment and help us out."

"Alright, that's great!" Ino smiled, writing it down on the paper attached to the clipboard. "We'll go over a playlist later on as well so he knows what to play on the night. Anyone else?"

"We could perhaps choose a few main colours for a theme?" Hinata suggested. "If we do, then we can focus on the main decorations, or something like that. It also may be easier on us because we actually don't have long until the actual thing is."

"She has a point," Temari piped up, glancing over at the girl. "The deadline is soon, and the date is also a few days before the dance as well, so we need to pace ourselves evenly. There's not a lot of us, so we need to be quick and thorough with this." The committee listened carefully to Temari's words, and began to take this into consideration.

* * *

"Do you guys have what you're going to wear for the dance yet?" Sakura asked after the meeting with the dance committee finally finished. The four friends had then decided to gather at Sakura's house for a sleepover, seeing as it was a Friday night, and had discussed the many things that girls usually talked about - school, gossip and boys. "I have no idea what I'm going to wear yet."

Tenten shrugged as she popped another gummy worm into her mouth. She honestly didn't care, nor was she sure if she was going to go to the dance anyway. She really wasn't into the whole mysterious thing - which explained her hatred for mystery novel because she hated having to strategically think to figure out something. "I don't know if I'm going yet. Is there any point to go?"

"You are going; I signed us up for the dance committee and a person who is part of the committe can't _not _come to the dance." Ino rambled with her mouth full as she chewed on a few jelly beans. "I mean, it'll be great to go. You'll meet a handsome stranger, dance the night away with him, and then at midnight you'll remove your masks and then-"

"If you say 'we'll live happily ever after', I won't hesitate to kill you."

Their blonde friend immediately shut up, not uttering a sound as Sakura and Hinata broke out in laughter.

"I... I agree with Tenten, actually. No one will want to dance with me anyway..." Hinata murmured, smiling nervously at her friends. She looked up at them, and sweatdropped when the three girls who were sitting opposite her, their faces now above her's as they looked down at her intimidately, with intense flames practically burning in their eyes.

_"HINATA!" _the three screamed. She let her head fall in embarassment.

"Sorry, guys..."

"Anyway, I've already got my dress. Shikamaru said I should go with something blue to match my eyes, and that's exactly what I did." Ino said, pulling out her iPhone and scrolling through her photo gallery until she found the picture of herself in the dress. The dress itself was floor length, a bright cerulean colour that was extremely similar to Ino's eyes. It was a halter-neck in which was simple in design, but complimented Ino well. It hugged her curves in all the right places, as if it was made for her.

"It's beautiful Ino, you look amazing in the photo!" Tenten exclaimed with a large smile.

"Yeah, it looks great!"

"Terrific!"

Ino shrugged smugly. "I know."

"We should probably head to bed. We'll go shopping tomorrow for costumes for the showcase, and if we have time, dresses and masks for the dance." Sakura said, switching off the light and snuggling into her bed. "Goodnight, guys!"

* * *

**A/N: Hey, everyone! :D I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It might seemed a bit rushed since I only started this chapter last night, but I'm glad I got it done because I wanted to update it quickly.**

**aelita444: Hey there, thanks for reading my story! To answer your statement on Gai's name, I know it's spelt 'Gai', but in the English version, it's spelt 'Guy', and since it's set in the US, and their not using any Japanese prefixes/language, I thought it would be appropriate to write his name as that. :)**

**Word Count: 1,959**

**~CL**


	6. Shopping!

**Enchanting Lyrics: Shopping!**

_**by Cerulean Leader**_

_****__****__******ø,,ø¤º°°º¤ø,****Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ****,****ø¤º°°º¤ø****,,****ø**_

**************Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the outside product/songs mentioned/used inside the story. :)**

* * *

Tenten was the first to wake up, rubbing her eyes. She then looked around, taking in her surroundings to work out where she was before she realized that her and her friends had slept over at Sakura's house for the night so they could all go out for the day. Pushing the cover of her green sleeping bag away so she could slip out of it, Tenten stood up hastily and tried to move towards the door, careful not to step on any of her friends' limbs that were all over the bedroom floor.

She walked down the stairs quietly, and headed towards the kitchen where the delicious aroma of pancakes filled her sense of smell. Sakura's mother, Mebuki, was standing at the stove with a spatula in her hand, as she flipped over the pancakes that were sizzling in the pan. They were coloured a coffee brown on both sides, from what she could tell when the adult placed them on the plate to the right of the stove before pouring more of the batter into the hot pan. Why hadn't Sakura inherited her mother's talent for cooking? After high school, Sakura was planning to go into nursing or study to become a doctor, so she had a habit of putting unnecessary herbs into whatever she was making.

"Good morning, Mrs Haruno." Tenten grinned, smiling at her one of best friends mothers' when the brunette turned, a little startled that one of the girls was awake already, when it was only 8am.

"Oh, good morning, Tenten." she answered cheerfully. "I wasn't planning to wake you girls up until I finished cooking breakfast, but looks like your nose work up." Tenten knew that she was only teasing, but she couldn't help but blush. A lot of people said that to her. "Would you mind doing me a favour and waking up the other girls?"

"Of course."

With a nod of her head, Tenten rushed upstairs again, eager to get her friends awake so that they could eat. She slammed the door open, knowing that the others wouldn't dare put their sleeping bags in the doorway, before pulling open Sakura's curtains, the sunlight then shining through the lace that was in between the glass and the thick material of the curtains. "Wake up, you guys!"

Hinata stirred first with a groan, turning to lie on her stomach as her hands snuck under her pillow to get into another comfortable position to fall back asleep in. Hinata was a light sleeper, but absolutely loved to sleep, contrary to popular belief. The brunette walked over to the indigo-haired girl, pressed her foot to the small of Hinata's back before shaking her.

"Hi-na-ta!"

Stepping over her friend's body as Hinata finally sat up and began scratching her head in confusion before yawning, she pulled the blanket off Sakura so that the pinkette would begin searching for the warmth again (even though the blanket was now on the floor), and then proceeded to smack Ino on the head with the pillow she retrieved from her own temporary bed. "Guys, get up! Ino, Sakura, we're going shopping later today, and Mrs Haruno has breakfast ready for us downstairs."

The four all stampeded down the staircase with loud chatter as the aroma of the pancakes filled their noses. Pushing open the door, Sakura led them in. She placed a kiss on her mother's cheek as the woman placed the last of the pancakes on the table, and kissing her dad's as well. He must've entered the room when Tenten went back upstairs because he wasn't seated at the head of the table before.

"Morning mom, dad."

"Morning Mr and Mrs Haruno." Ino and Hinata chorused, though a little out of sync due to the latter's slight stutter.

"Morning girls." the adults responded.

* * *

Once the girls had finished breakfast, they hurried back upstairs to get ready to go shopping. Ino was already dressed in a long purple, off-shoulder top, a silver, wrap-around belt, black leggings and silver sandals. She was now standing in front the mirror in the mirror after brushing her teeth, and was now styling her long, blonde hair so that it was down but majority of the top layer was pinned back.

Tenten readjusted her seaweed coloured jumper which clung to her curvy figure, her hands skimming over the gold trimming along the bottom. She was also wearing grey dress pants that had a ribbon criss-cross design running down both sides, and a pair of black boots that only came up to her ankles. Her hair was tied up in her signature twin-bun style.

Hinata was wearing a gray t-shirt with a panda on it, that was under her oversized white and lavender jacket, that was zipped up to her neck. She was also wearing boot-leg jeans, and a pair of blue sneakers, no matter how much her friends told her to wear something that showed off her figure more.

Sakura was wearing a cream-coloured t-shirt with a hot pink, zip-up vest over the top, a denim skirt that clung to her legs, and a pair of white flip-flops. In her hair, she was wearing her usual headband so that her bangs didn't get in the way of her vision.

All their stuff was packed neatly into their bags once again, and were lined up beside the front so that the girls could just grab them and go when their parents came to pick them up later when they came back from the shops. They each had a small bag, not including Ino who had a clutch, which held their mobiles, wallets, and all the basic things that they would take when they went out.

"Girls, hurry up!" Mebuki called from downstairs, unlocking the doors to the black 4-Wheel drive which sat in the driveway outside the Haruno residence. The girls quickly ran out the door and piled into the car. Mebuki reversed, and headed towards the Konoha mall and shopping strip while the four friends chatted eagerly about the dresses they wanted and the upcoming events. In no time, Mebuki had already found a car park.

The all rushed inside, with Sakura's mother going to do gather some groceries, and Tenten, Hinata, Ino and Sakura went to the fashion district. They all excitedly looked in shop windows at the clothes that were on display, before heading to one of the main dress shops at the end of the lane. As they opened the door, the little bell that was attached to the ceiling rang gently to let the shopkeeper know that new customers had just arrived.

The woman had long, ruby red hair that went down hips, stormy grey irisis, and a smiling face. She looked strangely familiar with her face shape, but Hinata couldn't put her finger on it. "Hello girls, are you here looking for dresses?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Ino answered with a smile. Sakura waved at the woman.

"Hello, Mrs Nakimaze!" she greeted. The redheaded woman grinned at the teenager, and motioned for the girls to follow her towards the formal wear section of the store. They immediately followed, going past the coutless amount of casual dresses and other clothes that the store had to offer before they reached the part they were headed towards.

"What are these dresses for?" Mrs Nakimaze asked.

"Our school is having a masquerade ball, so we need to buy outfits for it." Tenten responded.

"I think my son mentioned it a few days ago at dinner..." the redheaded responded thoughtfully. They were soon at the formal wear, with Ino and Sakura immediately diving in to pick out a dress, while Tenten followed along with a sigh. This was going to be a low shopping trip.

Hinata just stood there, rubbing her arm as she stared at the dresses on display and the ones on the hangers. How was she going to choose?

"Are you alright, dear?" Mrs Nakimaze asked, waving a hand in front of Hinata's face. Said girl jumped a bit out of surprised, but turned to the woman.

"Oh, y-yes ma'am." she stuttered, bowing her head out of respect before rushing off to track down at least one of her friends to help her find a dress. Mrs Nakimaze just shook her head and laughed, before walking to another side of the store where a door was near the dressing rooms, leading to the store-room, where she heard a crash, and the sound of cussing.

"Naruto, watch your language!" she yelled, scolding her son as she hurried to help the sixteen year-old up. He scowled, and dusted himself up before looking at the boxes on the floor. "Why didn't you just ask for help from one of the other employees if you were having trouble?"

The blonde placed a hand behind his head and then laughed nervously. "Sorry, mom."

"Anyway, I have customers to assist. Don't hesitate to ask for help if you need it, Naruto."

* * *

"What about this one?" Ino said, holding up a black sun-dress against her body. "Do you think Shikamaru would like this?"

"I thought you already had a dress for the dance." Tenten asked in confusion, raising her eyebrows in question as she pushed different dresses along the racks to observe other ones. She didn't exactly have a style or even a colour picked out for her gown. Tenten was a more of a 'go-with-the-flow' kind of girl, and often left things to the last minute. It was good that they were going shopping now or she would have been stressing the night before the Masquerade Ball.

"I do, but I mean for a date or something. I think it's cute." the blonde replied with a smile, folding the dress over her arm before walking over to her brunette friend. "Now, let's find you something to wear."

Tenten rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless, and followed Ino towards another rack. "What about this one?" Ino asked, holding up a yellow dress that looked like it would only reach to the mid-thigh, and had ruffles from the waist to the bottom with a giant flower on the left spaghetti strap. Tenten made a disgusted expression, snatching it out of the blonde's hands and putting it back on the rack.

"Ew, not even the person with the worse fashion sense in the world would be caught dead wearing something as outrageous as that."

"Well, _sorry_. Just trying to help." Ino pouted, before pushing the dresses along before picking a forest green one. Tenten analysed it carefully with a small smile on her face. It was long and reached the floor, which was something they'd probably have to wear to the school dance anyway. It wasn't poofy at all, and didn't have any major designs to it. It was a spaghetti strap number with a darker green sash tied around the waist. It was tied in a neat bow with the long ends of the ribbon reaching where her knees would have been if she was wearing at the moment.

"Let's find one of these dresses in my size and then I'll go try it on."

"Finally!" Ino exclaimed with a giggle, finding the right size and throwing it at Tenten who caught it with one hand as she turned her back to walk towards the fitting rooms. _'After 12 dresses, she finally said yes to something. I never thought she could be so picky.'_

* * *

Sakura and Hinata, already having picked out a few dresses for themselves to try on were in the fitting rooms already, modelling the dresses (Hinata was a little shyly but she was still being goofy and having a good time with it) for each other to see what their opinion was.

"C'mon, Sakura! What's taking you so long with this dress?" Hinata called, her heels bouncing impatiently as she sat on one of the benches in the hallway. Sakura finally drew back the curtain, sporting a cherry red dress that came to her mid-calf. The bottom was cut in a wavy pattern so the sharp edges of the dress swayed and twirled when she moved. It was a halter-neck that tied up at the back and slowly went from the cherry red to an almost maroon colour at the bottom, obviously changing shades.

"Hina, tell me the truth on what you think about this one. I really like it, but..." Sakura said, trailing off, her hands on her hips as she stood there nervously while her usually shy friend examined how the dress looked on her curvaceous figure.

"I think it looks great!" Hinata replied with a sincere smile, standing up as she and Sakura walked to the floor length mirror. Hinata was wearing a grey dress that went to the floor. It was strapless and the skirt flared out slightly while the bodice clung to her like a hand to a glove. Around her waist was a black sash. "I'm going to go with this dress."

"That dress looks amazing on you, Hinata." Sakura agreed with a nod of her head.

"Hey, mom!" yelled a voice as Naruto's head popped through the door. Hinata immediately turned red and practically dived for her fitting room. Naruto looked confused for a moment, but saw a familiar figure. His mind suddenly flashed to the conversation he had online with that girl a few weeks before. _'Was that her?'_

"NARUTO!" Sakura shouted, pushing him outside. "What are you doing inside the girl's fitting rooms?!"

"I was looking for my mom..." he said with a grin. "Hey, who was that girl you were with?"

"Don't worry about her, now get out!"

* * *

**A/N: Hey, everyone! Sorry for the delay on the update, I just got back to school a few weeks ago and they decided to bombard me with homework, so I'm doing the best I can. I hoped you enjoyed it nonetheless, and continue to keep an eye for it for updates. :)**

**Word Count: 2,333**

**~CL**


	7. Baby, are you down?

**Enchanting Lyrics: Baby, are you down?**

_**by Cerulean Leader**_

_****__****__******ø,,ø¤º°°º¤ø,****Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ****,****ø¤º°°º¤ø****,,****ø**_

**************Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the outside product/songs mentioned/used inside the story. :)**

* * *

Monday came way to quickly for all the students at Konoha High School, who had either spent the weekend doing homework and chilling at home, or going out. Sakura, who had done some last minute shopping the day before her mother, was now forcing Sasuke to try on something. The two had a free period, and so had decided to spend it by hanging out together.

"Sakura, stop." Sasuke drawled in annoyance, pushing his girlfriend away as she made him stand inside the school rec room. He was standing with his arms out to the side while she tried to adjust the red tie that was hanging from his neck.

"We need to match. I'm not going without you wearing something that will match my dress. Ino and Shikamaru are doing it, so I don't understand why you're complaining so much." She retorted, glancing up into his black eyes. He was staring down at her, the crease in his brow clearly showing his discomfort.

"Hn…" he responded, rolling his eyes. "Just to let you know, I now know the colour of your dress even though you tried to keep it a secret from me. It's red, right?"

Sakura pouted as a sly smile creeped up onto her boyfriend's face. "It doesn't matter. This is going to be the night that everyone finds out that we're officially dating, and I want it to go perfectly. Your fangirls will begin hunting me down like a flock of birds who are fighting over a piece of bread, so I want to enjoy one night without it before it all begins, okay?" she sighed.

Sasuke kissed her cheek in assurance. "It'll be alright, I promise."

* * *

**_Battle_Girl:_ _I never realised how scary Ms. Senju can be. She just came in to lecture our class about skipping class and stuff like that. Then she went on to talk to us about how we're going to be the seniors of the school next year. No pressure at all, Ms. Senju, none at all._**

**_NightSky-Dreamer: At least you got to miss out on class for assembly. :)_**

**_Battle_Girl: You look on the positive side too much. Honestly, I'd rather be in class at the moment than listen to the teachers drag on about stuff we know or have heard before. Why are you online anyway, Hinata? Aren't you the goody-two-shoes of all of us?_**

**_NightSky-Dreamer: I'm not a goody-two-shoes, Tenten! -.- I have a free period at the moment, so I'm on my phone at the moment. :3_**

**_Battle_Girl: Fair enough. Well, I better go. Ms. Senju just sent Mr. Might to patrol the audience to see if anyone is on their phone. Bye!_**

**_NightSky-Dreamer: Bye! _**

Hinata sighed, pressing the off button at the top of her mobile which made the screen go black. She put it on the table, and pulled a sheet of paper towards her that she pushed away before when she had checked her mobile. She didn't have any homework to do, she had finished it all the night before, so she had begun to right down a tune she was humming from before to see if she could make some sort of song about it. Who knows? Maybe this could be the one that they would be singing at the school showcase, not that she wanted to participate anyway.

Reaching up for the pencil she had tucked behind her ear earlier, she bit her lip in anticipation as she looked over the notes she had jotted down before. "That B sharp sounds out-of-place..." she murmured, using her eraser to rub out the mistake. Suddenly, her phone beeped so she reached for it to see what the message was, swiping the lock-screen away to see it. It read:

_KHS Mobile:_

_Message from: ThatDevillishFox_

**Accept ****_or _Decline**_? _

Her eyes widened slightly when she read the name. _'Why is he messaging me again?' _she asked herself as she pressed the 'accept' button.

_**ThatDevillishFox: Hey there, again! What's up? :D**_

_**NightSky-Dreamer: Hello. **_

_**ThatDevillishFox: Is that all I get? Haha, whatever, what subject do you have now?**_

_**NightSky-Dreamer: I have a free period. Otherwise I wouldn't be answering your message back.**_

_**ThatDevillishFox: Makes sense. So do I! Anyway, I have a question. Have you considered changing your display picture?**_

_**NightSky-Dreamer: Um... I wasn't planning on it? Why are you so hyper?**_

_**ThatDevillishFox: I think you should - so I can see what you look like. :) And I don't know. I guess I'm just in a good mood.**_

_**NightSky-Dreamer: Cool, then.** _

Naruto, unbeknowst to him or the girl he was talking too, was sitting right across the room, typing on the keypad. He glanced up and looked around at the people in the room. Majority of them were on their phones and only a handful had decided to use this time wisely. He payed particular attention to their girls who were typing away at their phones, knowing that one of them could be the girl he was so curious about. But then again, why was he so interested? He was the one who had asked her originally to not give away or ask about any personal information, and now he wanted to know who she was in person?

Looking back down at the screen, he noticed that she had just written that she needed to go, so he quickly responded with a casual 'bye' before turning off his own phone. Naruto couldn't help but look at the girls once more, but none of the girls had actually put their phones down.

* * *

"Maybe we should just do that Shut Up And Kiss Me song that Hinata wrote for the school showcase..." Ino said, murming to herself as she sat inside Honours French class. The teacher had told them to finish off the packet she had given them the previous lesson, and so, as the blonde girl tried to do her walk, she also began to think about the upcoming events. "What about the decorations for the dance? I still need to come up with a colour scheme. Ugh, why did I volunteer for this?"

She dropped her pencil, and closed her eyes. "Alright, Ino, calm down."

_"So baby don't worry, you are my only, you won't be lonely, even if the sky is falling down..." _She began to sing quietly as she quickly jotted down the answers. Even if she was only singing in a voice just above a whisper, a few of the students who were sitting around her began to sing the song as well, something which caused a smile to grow on her face.

_"You'll be my only, there's no need to worry. Baby are you down-down-down-down-down..."_

"Class, please keep your voices down. These assignments need to be corrected for the seniors." the teacher scolded, causing the people to immediately shut up. Ino rolled her eyes and let her chin fall in her hand. Why were teachers such party poopers? She actually liked that song.

* * *

After school, the girls once again met up at Hinata's house to practice another song. Said girl hadn't actually written another one yet since not only does it take a long time to write but her muse hadn't come back to her yet. No inspiration had been found in order to write an awesome song.

Sakura played the last few notes of the song on her guitar before removing the strap from her shoulders and placing the blue instrument carefully on the guitar stand. "So, Tenten, how are you and Neji?" she asked slyly, causing the brunette to blush and lose her cool as she made a hasty attempt to deny any attraction to the Hyūga male while punching her pink-haired friend in the arm.

"For the millionth time, there is nothing going on between Neji and I. We're just good friends."

"Good friends who are practically dating. I swear, you're worse than Sasuke and Sakura but you know that those two are secretly-" Ino said, using air quotes on 'secretly'. "-dating anyway. No matter how much you two deny it, you guys are going to end up together eventually. Then Lee will be owing me twenty bucks."

"You bet on us?!"

"Why wouldn't she? I mean, you guys are so predictable. And Sasuke and I are not that bad! And we're not secretly dating!" Sakura yelled back as she fought against her flaming cheeks that were slowly turning red. "So shut up, Pig. It took you ages to figure out that Shikamaru actually liked you before you finally made a move on him."

"Whatever, and I knew about him liking me, Forehead, but the guys are supposed to make the first move."

"C'mon, you guys, please don't stop fighting." Hinata sighed.

The three other girls muttered an apology before watching Hinata grab a beanbag and an acoustic guitar. "Anyone else want to do one of those old song sessions that we used to do back in middle school?" she asked, sitting down and beginning to strum a few notes.

"Yeah, but before we start that, can we please discuss the showcase? It's only a few weeks away, and we've hardly done anything to prepare. We don't even have a song or outfits to begin with, and we should be practicing out butts off - not just goofing around in the middle of Hinata's studio."

"She's working on a song. Give Hinata a break, Ino." Tenten said.

"I know that, but can we pick a back-up one just in case to practice as well?"

"I agree." Hinata piped up. "What if I don't write one in time? We might as well do a cover of a song, so then we can be prepared."

"That's a good idea. Any ideas, then?" Sakura asked, grabbing her own beanbag before sitting down as well with a groan.

And so, the girls went on to discuss a few song choices that they'd like to try and cover.

* * *

Naruto sat at his computer in his room, typing away at an essay which he needed to complete for his English class. They were currently working on persuasive essays', and so, he had decided to write one on why the school should introduce martial arts as a subject for the students who wanted to do it. He rubbed his temples in annoyance as he paused for a break, hoping some sort of inspiration would come to mind so he could finish off this stupid piece of homework so he could hand it in to his teacher without getting badgered for another two weeks about late homework.

He leaned back in his chair, placing his hands behind his head as he stared at the screen. Suddenly, one of the toolbars at the bottom menu began to flash orange. He used the mouse to bring the toolbar onto the screen, and he realised it was the updates page on the Konoha High School chatroom. He was near the bottom, so he scrolled up to see what the new update was.

_NightSky-Dreamer has changed their profile picture. _

He raised an eyebrow at the new information, and clicked on the link to her profile. He looked in the right-hand corner where the small square box was, and he leaned in for a better view because you couldn't bring up the picture for a full-screen view unless the user allowed it in their settings. He squinted, knowing the picture was more recent. She once again had her dark hair covering her face, but more of it was revealed. She had practically flawless, pale skin, and in the picture, her eyes were half-lidded as she held her guitar against her face. Behind her ear were a few wildflowers which matched the background of the cloudless blue sky. It was obviously a professional shot. He couldn't help but stare at her eyes when he noticed that they were a pearly, purple colour.

"Whoa." he gasped. _'She's gorgeous.'_

But seriously, who was she?!

* * *

**A/N: Hello, everyone! I apologise for the wait on the update; I've just been extremely lazy in updating, hahaha. So sorry about that. I know that the story is also dragging on a little bit, but it has too because the dance and the showcase can't happen quickly, right? **

**I'm sorry it's so short, but I'm going on holiday tomorrow, so I'm kind of rushing this. XD Please review!**

**The song that Ino is singing in her scene is Down by Jay Sean ft. L'il Wayne. :) I haven't heard that song in forever and then I heard it in an AMV and then it got stuck in my head so I had to include it.**

**Word Count: 2,053**

**~CL**


	8. Collapsible

**Enchanting Lyrics: Collapsible**

_**by Cerulean Leader**_

_****__****__******ø,,ø¤º°°º¤ø,****Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ****,****ø¤º°°º¤ø****,,****ø**_

**************Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the outside product/songs mentioned/used inside the story. :)**

* * *

"What if we did a cover as well as an original song?" Hinata said, resting her chin on her guitar. It had been about an hour since the girls had sat down all together and began to discuss and suggest songs they could use in case Hinata could not write a song in time for the school showcase. "I mean, that would interest the crowd a bit more, right?"

"It could be a good idea, but only if you manage to write a song in time." Ino said, nodding her head as she considered the idea. "It has to be a really catchy and well-known song. Today, during French, I was getting a little stressed so I began singing Down by Jay Sean, and pretty much the whole class joined in until we all got told off. I reckon it would be pretty sick to have everyone join in, wouldn't you guys?"

"That would be pretty cool." Tenten said thoughtfully. "But now with this as well, Hinata's under even more pressure because now we're all agreeing on two songs. So, I think that we should all have a shot at helping her."

Sakura nodded before a grin came into play. "That's a good idea! Between the four of us, we could have this finished in no time. Plus, we have heaps of inspiration in our lives so we could never go wrong." Tenten looked she wanted to say something because she had her fist clenched fist. She was also bouncing her knees slightly, which was a habit had picked up on ages ago.

"If you need to say something, Tenten, then say it." Ino said while rolling her eyes. She directed her blue irises towards her flexed fingers while she inspected her nails. The brunette just glared back in return.

"Do you guys remember last year when I went to Kenya with my family?" she asked. Her friend's nodded in response, recalling that Tenten's father was a sponsor for the children in Kenya. "Well, last year when we were travelling, I wrote a song…" Tenten paused, taking a breath while the other girls just stared at her in confusion. "Can we try it? I have the lyrics in my bag, actually, so I can fix them whenever I want."

"Looks like you're not the only songwriter in our band, Hinata." Ino said, nudging her indigo haired friend who was absolutely beaming.

"Are you kidding? This is amazing. I've been waiting for one of you guys to produce one of your own songs. Mine are bad, so I'm sure Tenten's will be awesome. Go get it, Tenten!"

The brunette laughed, and jumped up before practically sprinting for her bag. "Hinata, go get your violin!"

Hinata flashed her a grin and hurried to her room, where her violin case was sitting on top of her desk. Grabbing it, she rushed back towards the room where her friends were waiting, retrieved her bow and the string instrument from the charcoal black case and set it up to play while Tenten placed the essential sheets with the notes Hinata was to play on the music stand. "It's not much, only a few bars, but I was thinking that maybe we should do a mash-up or something…"

Ino's phone beeped, and her friends looked at her while the long-haired girl checked her mobile. She groaned, and placed a hand on her forehead. "Sorry, guys, but I have to go. The backdrop on the stage apparently has been ripped apart after we just put it up yesterday. I have to go, but let me know how it goes!" she said, blowing them a kiss before rushing out of the house with a echoing, disapproved yell from Hinata's father.

"Did she just leave?" Sakura asked, dumbfounded at the prospect. Tenten nodded, glancing at the sheets where Hinata was standing. She let out a sigh, and put them back in her bag.

"Looks like we won't be trying these out today."

* * *

Shikamaru was someone who preferred to 'go-with-the-flow', and had always been like that. He left his homework to the last minute, majority of the time, he chose to sleep instead of socialise or put the time he had to use, but he was a teenager. His mother was always saying that he should go out and try new things because she was sick of him procrastinating, but she couldn't exactly blame him, could she?

So, there he was, lying on his single bed after school. It was only a few days before the dance, and Ino had been spending most of her spare time in the school gym, yelling at people or into the phone. She had been stressing out so much lately and no matter how much anyone told her to lay off a little and take a few hours to relax, she wouldn't listen. She even snapped at her boyfriend.

"_No, Shikamaru, this night is going to be perfect, and I will make sure of it! No one is going to ruin it, least of all, you!"_

He had not talked to her since.

Rolling over, he let an annoyed sigh escape his chapped lips. Girls were so complicated.

Even her best friends were having trouble talking to her. She had been apparently neglecting them in favour of the dance, and they were extremely angry. Sakura had even yelled at the blonde in the hallway, but Ino hadn't taken any notice, choosing to only turn on her heel and stalk off. She had not been helping with a song to choose, nor had she shown up for practice over the last couple of weeks.

"_Are you in or not, Ino?!"_

Hinata was probably the most understanding, but seemed to have sided with Sakura and Tenten. Sasuke had told Shikamaru not to worry, or grunted out the words as if it was a chore, while Naruto just laughed at him from the sidelines. What kind of friend was he, anyway? Stupid, immature idiot.

He felt his mobile phone vibrate in his back pocket, and he groaned, burying his face into the pillow while he pulled it out. He opened his eyes tiredly and flinched as the bright light reached his vision, but continued to read on anyway.

_From: Sakura Haruno  
Subject: None  
Sent at 4.43pm_

_**Shikamaru, you need to get to the hospital now. It's Ino, something's wrong.**_

Seeing his girlfriend's name, he allowed his eyes to widen in surprise before he practically leapt off his bed uncharacteristically. He bolted downstairs in a panic, and hurried to find his dad.

"Shikamaru Nara, you slow down this instant." His mother scolded before a smile broke out onto her face. "That's the first time I've ever had to say that. It's a miracle!"

He glowered at her. _"Mother," _he said sharply. "I need to get to the hospital now. There's something wrong with Ino."

"Inoichi's girl?" Shikaku asked, looking up from the newspaper he had been reading and pulling the smoking pipe from his mouth. "What's wrong with her?"

Shikamaru shrugged and grabbed the car keys that were just lying on the bench in a hazardous manner, right near the knife stand and the vacuum cleaner on Shikamaru's way to grabbing the essential set of tools. "I need you to take me there." He stated. His father nodded, and the two men and Yoshino hurried out of the house.

On the way to the hospital, he whipped out his phone and quickly text Sakura back to let her know that he acknowledged her message.

_From: Shikamaru Nara  
Subject: None  
Sent at 4.49pm_

_**On my way.**_

* * *

_"What were you_ **_thinking_,** _taking on all this responsibility on your own?" _yelled a sharp, male voice from behind a closed door as the Nara's practically ran to Ino's room from the reception desk. From what they could gather, Inoichi was lecturing his daughter on her behaviour these past few weeks. _"Your grades have dropped considerably, you know. You're spending way to much time on this dance that is planned at your school."_

_"I know I can handle it, dad, I've just been lacking sleep."_

_"You collapsed!"_

Shikaku opened the door calmly, shoving his hands back into the pockets of his jeans as he, his son and his wife entered the room. Inoichi turned his gaze away from his daughter to face the Nara's, and Ino did the same, grinning when she saw Shikamaru. He aimed at her a small smile, but it appeared as if the practically permanent bored expression who always wore had not changed. Sakura was sitting on a chair beside Ino's bed, and she looked relieved when Shikamaru and his family walked in. "Shikaku, Yoshino!" Inoichi greeted. "I see you've heard about Ino."

Shikamaru quickly shook hands with his girlfriend's father and made his way over to her and Sakura. He shook his head and sat on the bed beside her.

"You should have called, Ino." the boy said as she grazed her lips onto the skin of his cheek. "How long have you been in hospital?"

Sakura rolled her eyes at Ino's stubbornness, as she had folded her arms at Shikamaru's question. "She's been in here for a couple of hours. I didn't know either until her mother called mine to let her us know what had happened. Hinata and Tenten don't even know yet, but don't worry, they will tonight when I get home."

"It's nothing serious, okay? I just overworked myself a little." Ino stated, trying to make it off as if there was nothing wrong. She had always been like that; the headstrong one who hated depending on anyone because her parents had always treated her like a porcelain doll growing up. "My grades might be dropping a little bit, but that's because I hate studying. I'm not losing that much sleep, only a little, so you can all stop worrying about me." She looked directly at her boyfriend saying her last few words because even though he wouldn't act like it with anybody else around, he would fret and fuss over her.

Sakura scoffed. "Of course it's serious, Ino-pig, being on the committee is draining you. You're not even the head person, so I don't understand why you're working so hard. You even signed us up, but we're hardly doing anything. You know what I'm doing? Buying vases for the tables."

Ino sighed, closing her eyes and resting her head back into the uncomfortable pillows behind her. "I just wanted the night to be perfect."

"It will be." her best friend assured her.

* * *

**A/N: Hello, readers! Sorry for taking so long with an update, I just couldn't figure out what to do when this popped into my head. Hopefully, the next one will be a quick update and maybe the dance scene or something? Tenten and Hinata haven't seen Ino yet, so I might try something with that, or the boys soccer games or whatever because I haven't explained that at all since the first couple of chapters. :)**

**Please leave a review for your thoughts as they are greatly appreciated. :D**

**Word Count: 1,819**

**~CL**


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